Most of us picture democracy being decided on Election Day. Hannah Fried spends her life on the part nobody watches — the quiet, local decisions made months and years before a single ballot is cast.

Hannah is co-founder and CEO of All Voting Is Local, a national nonprofit working year-round in eight states to remove voting barriers for Black, Brown, and Native American communities. She and her co-founder spent years saying "somebody should start an organization" focused on the local officials quietly deciding how elections run — then realized they were the somebody. They built it from her kitchen table with no money, got incubated by The Leadership Conference, and went independent in 2022.

In this episode, you'll hear:

Why the decisions that make or break your right to vote — where polling places go, what hours they're open, how vote-by-mail works — get made by local officials long before any ballot is cast
The playbook for turning one county-level win into a national conversation — and why story is the engine that does it
Why "it's never too late to get involved" is more than a platitude, plus the concrete ways any person can plug in this year

If you've ever wondered whether slow, local, unglamorous, years-in-the-making work actually adds up — this conversation is your answer. 🩵

Episode Highlights:

Hannah's journey: from voter protection to founding All Voting Is Local (1:54)
The mission: making democracy's invisible infrastructure visible (5:17)
The eight states where AVL works (6:41)
The Apache County win: adding polling places for the Navajo Nation (7:08)
From local to national: the Day of Action in Selma & Montgomery (10:24)
How to get mobilized — where anyone can start (12:39)
A moment of generosity: her daughter as her greatest teacher (14:49)
One good thing: keep going (17:16)
Where to connect + becoming a poll worker (18:47)

Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/726

Series Hub: https://www.weareforgood.com/hopegap

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726. Stories to Fill the Hope Gap: Turning County-Level Wins Into National Change - Hannah Fried, All Voting Is Local

We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

726. Stories to Fill the Hope Gap: Turning County-Level Wins Into National Change - Hannah Fried, All Voting Is Local